An owner of property in Iron and Ashland counties that was the site of a contentious proposal to mine iron ore is trying to resurrect plans for the mine, an Iron County economic development official said.

Officials of La Pointe Iron Co., one of the owners of the property that Gogebic Taconite unsuccessfully sought to develop as a massive open pit mine, met with local representatives in Hurley on Wednesday to discuss reviving the plans.

Kelly Klein, director of development for the Iron County Development Zone, said he and others met with La Pointe representatives, who told them they are eager to find another developer for the site.

Yi, China will face U.S. in Olympic opener

The Olympic basketball draw was held in Beijing this morning, and the U.S. was placed in a group with host China, defending world champion Spain and Angola. Two other teams will join the group after advancing from an Olympic qualifying tournament in Greece in July.

On the opening day of men's basketball competition (Aug. 10), the U.S. will play China, setting up the chance for Bucks players Yi Jianlian and Michael Redd to face each other. Bucks center Andrew Bogut and his Australian national team landed in Group A, along with defending Olympic champion Argentina, Russia, Lithuania and Iran. The sixth team in that group will come from the Athens tournament.

"It will be an eye-catching opener between the host and the USA," FIBA President Bob Elphinston said.

A Chinese basketball official recently confirmed that Yi will be the first torchbearer on May 4 when the Olympic torch returns to mainland China, in the resort city of Sanya in the province of Hainan.

Yi told reporters covering the Bucks that he had heard news reports about protests that disrupted the torch relay in other countries. The relay has drawn protests over China's human rights record and its policies on Tibet and Darfur.

"Right now, I'm not too worried about it," Yi said. "I still have full confidence that these kinds of protests are not going to influence the Beijing Olympics in any way."

Yi, who is still recovering from a sprained ligament in his right wrist and a knee injury, has continued his rehabilitation in Milwaukee since the season ended in mid-April.

But soon he will return to China and turn his focus to the Olympics, and he believes the experience gained in his rookie NBA season will help his performance this summer.

"I'm very excited," Yi said. "Often, I catch myself thinking and imagining about the Olympics right now. To have the Olympics right at our front door and look and see across the stadium and it's all Chinese fans, this is something I'm really excited about."

Among the 12 teams competing in the Olympic qualifying tournament in July, Germany should be a strong contender for one of the remaining three berths. The Germans will be led by Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki. Others expected to contend include Puerto Rico, Brazil, Canada and Greece.